A little about me
Emilia
I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. My parents don’t have degrees or training in anything in particular, but what they do have is a passion for creating food experiences that people remember. For over 30 years, they opened New-York Style pizzerias in each location they lived in. Growing up in a family that worked together and serving others taught me skills that I have leveraged in my tech and other business experiences.
After earning both my MBA and spending more than 20 years working in corporate America, I started my own company, Sonoma Creek Ventures, 5 years ago with my business partner, Jason. Sonoma Creek Ventures is focused on luxury vacation rental experience.
I loved the entrepreneur experience so much that I later started my second company, Growth Molecules, which is a management consulting firm focused on helping companies retain and expand customers. We focus on business-to-business software as a service (SaaS) companies seeking to build and optimize how they lead product adoption.
My most recent adventure is writing and publishing a book, Pressing ON As A Tech Mom: How Tech Industry Mothers Set Goals, Define Boundaries And Raise the Bar for Success, Being a woman in tech is challenging, but being a mother makes it even tougher, and that is why my co-author and business partner, Sabina M. Pons co-wrote this book with me; We want to empower women in the workforce and educate tech leaders about why moms belong and thrive in technology.
Why I joined UpdateAI
My customer success philosophy focuses on three aspects:
- People
- Processes
- Systems
If you can enable your employees to leverage processes in a scalable way, then you’ve hit the jackpot. Otherwise, you risk setting employees up for failure and simply wasting money.
I struggled with the lack of CSM tools in previous roles. Being in that seat and not having the tools that allow me to be successful – to ask the right questions, to be able to see where the customer was in their journey, where they were struggling, and where I was struggling – is what really excites me about UpdateAI. We’re creating a product for CSMs to be able to focus on relationships building.
Why I'm so excited about UpdateAI
I see customer success carving itself out as an established profession with certifications and intentional practices like sales in the future. Companies are realizing CSMs need enablement. They need tools and processes so they can ask the right questions, resulting in stronger relationships and more revenue opportunities.
Which core company value I align with the most
Two speak to me in particular – “Diversity Matters” and “Act with Authenticity.” When it comes to the first value, it’s clear: your customers won’t all look and act like you, so it’s important to have employees that reflect this diversity.
As for “Act with Authenticity,” I have struggled with imposter syndrome. I have spent so much of my career worrying about why I’m not as successful as the next person that I feel it’s held me back. Now more than anything, I act with authenticity and I expect that from others.